DemocracyNow.org April 23, 2026 (14 min.)
Category: Obama
Obama Administration
BBC Interview: Uncertainty over US-Iran peace talks
This Isn’t Just Trump’s War on Iran. Both Parties Paved the Way for Disaster
Truthout, April 17, 2026: Democrats share responsibility with the GOP for creating the climate that made such a war possible. Unlike the invasion of Iraq, which received the support of a sizable minority of congressional Democrats, Donald Trump’s war on Iran has received near-universal criticism. Still, the party has focused primarily on process-style critiques — such as the legality of declaring the war under the Constitution and the war’s economic impact — rather than the humanitarian consequences and flagrant violations of international law.
How U.S. Policy Failures Helped Hamas
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, October 31, 2023
By Stephen Zunes [source]
U.S. policy resulted in current ongoing tragedy
Uzbekistan’s Karimov: The Death of One of Washington’s Favorite Tyrants
How U.S. Contributed to Yemen Crisis
Santa Cruz Sentinel April 17, 2015 [Also Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, Lobe Lob, Reddit, Transcend.org and Transnational.org]
As civilian casualties mount, with U.S. logistical support the Saudis are attempting to re-instate Yemen’s exiled government — backed by the West and the Sunni Gulf monarchies — in the face of a military offensive by Houthi rebels. None of this had to be…
Obama administration undermines UN disarmament efforts
National Catholic Reporter April 13, 2015
Though the United States may have taken the lead in the international diplomatic initiative against Iran’s nuclear program, the Obama administration has also taken the lead in undermining the United Nations’ efforts to promote nuclear arms control and disarmament elsewhere…
Hardliners on All Sides Undermining Iran’s Nuclear Talks
Maintaining U.S. presence in Afghanistan would bolster Taliban: expert says
Tehran Times October 19, 2013
On October 12 Washington and Kabul agreed on a draft deal that would keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014, but only if political and tribal leaders in Afghanistan agree to a U.S. demand that U.S. troops not be subject to Afghan law…
On Syria, most thoughtful people are torn
Open Democracy, October 5, 2013
Indeed, with the exception of some neo-conservatives and other hawks who apparently have never seen an opportunity for western intervention they didn’t like and some on the far left who assume that any regime hostile to western imperialism must be progressive, I’ve generally been impressed with the maturity of the debate around Syria. Most thoughtful people are torn on these questions, myself included. Once again, however, Hashemi misrepresents me…
What Obama Didn’t Say in his UN Speech
The Progressive September 24, 2013
[Republished by Common Dreams and PeaceandJustice.org]
President Obama addressed Russian and Chinese obstructionism on Syria. Their abuse of veto power has, in the words of U.S. ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, held the Security Council “hostage.” But the President wasn’t willing to acknowledge U.S. obstructionism and abuse of its own veto power…
Interview: Dr. Stephen Zunes previews Obama’s Speech on Syria (audio)
WTOP Radio (Washington, DC) September 10, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zunes previews the President Obama’s speech on the Syrian dilemma. [The source link for this item is no longer available.
Find best related links on this topic .]
Interview: Pacifica Radio, Analysis of Obama’s Speech (audio)
Pacifica Radio Network KPFA September 10, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zunes joins Pacifica Radio Network’s host John Hamilton to analyzes President Obama’s speech over potential strikes in Syria.
Also On U.S. Involvement In Syria, September 12, 2013 on WORT, Madison, WI
Left Voices Interview: Will Diplomatic Openings Avert a US Military Strike Against Syria? (audio)
Left Voices September 10, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zunes talks about the possible negotiated settlement over Syria’s chemical weapons and efforts to prevent U.S. military intervention.
[The source link is no longer available. Find best related links.]
Interview on KQED’s “Forum”: Congress Set to Vote on Syria Strikes (audio)
KQED: September 29, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zunes talks with a panel that includes, David Mark, editor-in-chief of Politix, an online community focusing on national politics, and former senior editor with Politico, Robert Danin, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Steve Weber, professor of political science at UC Berkeley and author of books including “The End of Arrogance, America and the Global Competition of Ideas”, about the vote to strike Syria.
Eight Arguments Against Going to War With Syria
Truthout September 4, 2013 [Versions were also published by Future of Freedom Foundation, ZNetwork, and Santa Cruz Sentinel]
Ten reasons why the U.S. should not attack Syria. The decision by President Barack Obama to first seek congressional approval of any US military action against Syria is good and important, not only on constitutional grounds, but because it gives the American people an opportunity to stop it. It is critically important to convince members of Congress not to grant the president that authority.
US government hypocrisy undercuts demand for Snowden’s extradition
National Catholic Reporter, August 29, 2013
Reasonable people can disagree on whether former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden
should be celebrated as a whistleblower for revealing widespread U.S. government spying or whether he should
be tried and punished for leaking classified documents. However, the Obama administration’s extraordinary hypocrisy in demanding his immediate extradition to the United States, despite the lack of an extradition treaty with Russia, while refusing to extradite far worse criminals to countries with which the United States has such treaty obligations, denies the U.S. government any credibility…
Interview: On Possible U.S. Intervention in Syria
Wisconsin Public Radio August 28, 2013
The source link is no longer available. More Zunes Syria articles.
Interview: What should be the US’s next step in Syria? (89.3 KPCC, National Public Radio Los Angeles audio)
KPCC (NPR) LAist AirTalk August 27, 2013
In a statement yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry called the use of chemical weapons in Syria “a moral obscenity” that demands action from the U.S. Now the question is what action the U.S. will take against Syria for crossing the “red line” President Obama outlined against the use of chemical weapons?